Mining machine



Feb. 17, 1931. LEVIN 1,792,499

MINING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 15, 1917 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Big. I WITNESSES: INVE/YTOR O 9mm A TTORNE Y Feb. 17, 1931.

WITNESSES."

N. D. LEVIN 1,792,499

MINING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 13, 1917 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INIIEN TOR m y \Wfi A TTORAE Y Feb. 17, 1931. N. D. LEVIN 1,792,499

MINING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 13, 1917 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WITNESSES: ma 2104a 7M I M M v VENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED, STATES; PATENT ems mas. 12 LEVIN. or commune. c a ess Gncnmo THE enter mfia mcwmq coMBANY, or COLUMBUS-,OHIQ, aconronnrion or 0310, 1

, MINING Macaw Original application fiea reb ar is,'1917-,;se'r ia1 No. 148,447. Divided and one applicationfiled March 12, 1921, Serial No. 451,685, Renewed June-19, 1925 7 This invention relates to. certain new and useful improvements in mimng machines,

adapted to be moved in anydirection relativev to the coal face to form incisions. therein.

I In my co-pending application, Serial No. M8347, filed February 13th, 1917, of which this application is a division, there is disclosed an engine arranged to actuate a mining machine of the longwall or side cutting It type It is the especial object of this invention to. provide, in a machine of the class described, an improved arrangement of power transmitting devices for connectingthe active ele- N ments of the machine with a non-reversible motor comprising two oppositely rotating elements, such as is indicated in theapplication above referred to; 7

A further object is to provide power trans- .0 mitti'ng devices for the purpose above specified whereby the, directionof movement ofthe active elements of the mining machine may be conveniently controlled.

These and other objects will appear in the 25 following specification. wherein is disclosed one embodiment of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a general plan view ofa mining 3 machine embodying my present invention,

the cover being removed to disclose the operg ative elements of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line, 11-11 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line. II 0 g Fig- 4; an enlarge pla View of e en; ginegthe upper portions of the casing being broken awafto, disclose the interior parts thereof.

. Fig. 5, is a, side elevation. of the engine illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6:. isanend elevation of the, end of the 45 engine towards the feeding end of the machine.

Fig.1 is a sectional view taken along the i e, VHF-V I o F g- Fig. 8. is a sectional view taken alongth '50 line VIII+VIII of Fig. 1:.

Like numerals refer to, similar parts. in the: sevcrai figures. i

shown in. the drawings this. mining ma chine comprisesa mainframe. 1, adapted to.

rest upon. and slide over the floor of the mine,

upon whichthe operative parts of themechine are ncunted. Theseoperative, parts nstituterntti g m chan sm, m unted at one end of. the main f me, f eding devices mcnnte a h o he e d f the ain fr me. an an e gin m un edep n the main ra e e w cn he c ti g; nd. f i g e emen and cpereti ely nne te t em ysni ab e power transmitting devices. The cutting me hani m onsists of a cutte f e at the well known ty-p.e, around the edge of which travels anendless chain. 3. to, which are at ta edthe re ew ble. cn er ts .4- Th s cntte tr me 2; is mount d or ot o in a horizonta Plane abont the vertical shaft to which is attached the sprocket wheel 6, enthe cutter chain 3 to drive it. To. the shaft 5, is, alsoattached a worm gear wheel 7 whichengages the worm- 8.1nounted, upon the horizontal worm shaft 9. jonrnaled in bearings 10 of the machine frame, To the proj,ect ingend; of the'shaft 9 is attached a clutch member 1 1 adapted to engagea similar clutch m mber l2 to form a elatively flexible coupling; with the rotative part of the env ine- The eeding mechanism c nsistscf a winding drum 13 'upon which is, windable a-"feed .r opfe L, adapted to. be. connected to an abutmeht n adv nce f. he machin By h winding c he rope 14.: the. ma hine. w l b drawllfbodily over the floor of the mine to cause the cutter bits 45' to engage the material.

to be mined. The winding drum 13' is, rota-table, upon the sleeve la'journaled upon a verti'cal' shaft 16 fixed in the frame 1 of the machine. 1 Upon the'sleeve '15 is formed a fricti'on cone 17 adapted to engage with a complementary surface E8 of the drum 13.;toform a friction clutch wherebythese parts maybe rotatively connected together. Atthe, upper part of the-sleeve isfojrmeda screw thread 19.: to; which is fitted the n v 2.0 a ngp 1 W iradial rm by w i h a d nut may be cov n jently rotated relative torth sleeve 15. At the lower end of the nut 20 is formed a laterally extending flange 22 which engages the ring 23 attached to the winding drum 1.3 in such manner that when the nut is screwed to the upper part of the thread 19 the weight of the drum Will be carried upon the flange 22 thereby holding the clutch surfaces 17 and 18 out of engagement. A ball bearing 24, mounted, upon the shoulder 25 of the drum casting, is adapted to be pressed by the nut 20 when it is screwed downward to force the clutch surfaces 17 and 18 together. Formed on the lower part of the cone 17 is a spur gear 26 which engages with a spur pinion 27 formed at the lower end of the sleeve 28 journaled upon the stationary vertical shaft 29 fixed to the machine frame 1. Upon the sleeve 28 is fixed a ratchet wheel 30 at either side of which is mounted rocker arms 31. Between these rocker arms is mounted a pawl 32 adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 30. At the outer end of the arm 31 is a wrist pin 33 to which is connected one end of a connecting rod 34 the other end of which engages the crank pin 35 fixed to the vertical shaft 36 connected with the rotary parts of the engine. By the rotation of the crank 35 the rocker arms 31 are oscillated causing the pawl 32 to engage the ratchet wheel 30 to rotate the sleeve 28 and through it the winding drum 13 to wind the feed rope 14.

The engine comprises a casing .37 upon which are formed lugs 38 for its attachment to the main frame 1 of the mining machine. lVithin this casing is mounted a pair of similar parallel drums 39 and 40 upon the periphcries of which are formed a plurality of intermeshing spirally disposed tooth blades 41 diverging from the central transverse plane of the drums and extending to their ends and around a part of their circumference. These drums are mounted upon parallel shafts 42 and 43 to which are clamped the inner races of the ball bearings 44 and 45 by suitable clamping members 46 and 47. The outer races of the ball bearings 44 and 45 are supported in recesses 48 and 49 of the end plates 50 and 51 secured to the casing 37 by suitable machine screws 52 to support the rotors. The casing 37 entirely encloses the rotors 39 and 40 and is provided at its upper side with an inspection window 53 having a cover plate 54 secured in place by suitable machine screws 55. The upper portion of the casing forms an exhaust chamber 56 which receives the fully expanded actuating fluid and discharges it into the atmosphere through the exhaust openings 57 at either side of the casin The lower wall 58 of the casing closely approaches the top of the spiral tooth blades 41 on both sides of the central longitudinal plane of the casing for a distance equal to the spiral advance of the tooth blades. This surface 58 co-operates with the tooth blades to form V shaped expansion chambers 59 adapted to receive the actuating fluid from the port 60 positioned in the central longitudinal plane of the casing. Formed in the lower wall of the casing is an admission chamber 61 communicating with the port 60 and provided with a screw threaded aperture (32 into which is fitted the supply pipe 63 through which the actuating fluid is received from the source of fluid supply. A. suitable throttle valve 64 connected in the supply pipe 63 at a point convenient to the hand of the operator, affords means to control the supply of actuating fluid to the engine. l Vhen fluid is admitted into the chamber 61 it flows through the port 60 into the successive expansion chambers 59 causing the rotors 39 and 40 to revolve in opposite directions.

At one end of the engine the shafts 42 and 43 project beyond the bearings 44 to form the shaft extensions 65 and 66. Upon these shaft extensions are mounted two similar spur pinions 67 and 68 slidable longitudinally thereof and connected rotatively therevith by suitable feather keys G9. The pin ions (37 and 68 are provided with circui'nferential grooves 70 adapted to engage suit able shifting collars 71 for connection with the shifting devices by which the position of the pinion longitudinally of the shaft extension may be controlled. A suitable gear housing 72 is attached to the end plate 50 and completely encloses the pinions and the de vices by which they are controlled. Mounted in a journal bearing 73 of the gear housing 72, extended longitudina ly in the central plane of the casing 37, is a shaft 74 to the projecting end of which is attached the clutch member 12 by which the rotativc parts of the engine are connected to drive the cutting mechanism of the mining machine. At the inner end of the shaft 74 is a spur gear 75 adapted to mesh with the spur pinions (i7 and 68 when they are at the inner end of their movement along the shafts 65 and 66. The width of the gear 7 5 is such, however, that when the said pinions are at the outer limit of their movement they will be out of engagement with said gear.

Mounted in bearings 76 of the gear housj ings 72 1s a transverse shaft 77 towhich is attached a pair of rocker arms 78 having apertures engaging the trunnions 79 of the shifting collar 71 which engages a groove 70 in the pinion 67. Rotatable upon the shaft 77 is a quill 80 to which is attached a pair of rocker arms 81 having apertures engaging the trunnions 82 of the shifting collar 71 which engages the groove 70 of the pinion 68. The shaft 77 and quill 80 project beyond the bearing 7 6 and to their projecting ends are attached rocker arms 83 and 84 respectively. These lOClZGl arms are connected to rods 85 and 86 which extend along the frame of the mining machine to a point convenient lie lation of these operating rods 85' and 86 the shaft 77 and the quill 80 may be rotated to oscillate the rocker arms 78 and 81 to shift the pinions 67 and 68 into or out of engage ment with the gear wheel 75. As the rotors 39 and it) revolve in opposite directions it necessarily follows that the direction of the shaft 74 will depend upon which of the pinions 6? or 68 is in engagement with the wheel "5, and the two systems of parts should be connected in such way as to prevent both the pinions 6'? and 68 being moved simultaneously into engagement with the gear75. By this arrangement means is afforded to drive the cutting mechanism in either direction or to entirely disconnect it from the rotating parts of the engine. The proportion of the rotors 39 and 40, the pinions 67 and 86 and the gear 75 are such that when one of the said pinions is in mesh with said gear the teeth of the other pinion will be in line with the teeth of the gear, thereby rendering impossible the engagement of both pinions with the gear at the same time. I

At the end of the engine opposite the reversing mechanism above described, the shaft 42 is extended beyond the bearing 44 and to this extension 87 is secured a spurpinion 88. The pinion 88 engages a spur gear 89 attached to the shaft 90 extending longitudinally of the engine in the central plane of the casing 37. The shaft 90 is journaled in bearings 91 and 92 of a gear housing 93 attached to the end plate 51. Upon the shaft 90 is formed a worm 94 which engages a worm.

wheel 95 mounted upon the vertical shaft 36 journaled in bearings 96 and 97 of the gear housing 93. To the upper end of the shaft 36 is attached the crank by which the feeding devices of the machine are actuated.

In operation the machine is drawn longichine, ofa motor comprising two parallel, non-reversible, oppositel, rotating, interengaging rotors, two sha ts one for each of said rotors, a casing enclosing the rotors, said shafts both projecting throu h one end of the casing and one of said sha ing also through the other end thereof, two slidable pinions on the shafts outside of the said casing, a fixed pinion at the other end of the casing on the projecting shaft, a reversible gear wheel outside of and at the opposite end ofv the casing, a continuously rotating gear wheel mounted outside of and at the opposite end of the casing, means for moving the sliding gear wheels alternately into engagement with the reversible gear wheel, and means at the other end of the casing for transmitting power from the continuously rotating wheel.

2. In a machine of combination of a motor comprising two parallel non-reversible oppositely revolving inthe class described, the

ts projectter-engaging rotors adapted to be operated by a fluid agent, a casing enclosing said rotors and supporting them in fluid-tight bearings, two shafts for the rotors respectively extending through an end wall of the casing, a sliding pinion on each shaft outside the casing, one of said shafts having its opposite end projecting through the opposite wall of the casing, a pinion fixed on the last said shaft, two shafts respectively mounted on the opposite end walls of the casing, a gear wheel on, one of the last said shafts adapted to intermesh with thesaid sliding pinions, a gear wheel on the other shaft engagingwith the saidIfixed pinion, a worm on the last said shaft, and a worm wheel mounted on the casing and engaging with the said worm.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

NILS D. LEVIN.

- tudinally along the coal facewith its side 7 I parallel with and in close proximity to the coal. The cutter arm 2 extends under the coal at substantially a right angle to the longitudinal lines of the machine and to the direction of travel. After the machine has traversed the entire length of the coal face it is turned end for end, bringing the opposite side of the main frame towards the coal, and the cutter arm 2 is rotated through 180 degrees to the cutting position under the coal. The machine is then drawn along the coal face to the point of beginning. In order to cut on the return trip across the'coal the bits 4 must be reversed in the sockets ofthe chain 3, and the direction of the chain must be reversed through the manipulation of the reversing gears 67 and 68 through the medium of the operating rods and 86 as above described.

WhatI claim is 1. In a machine of the class described the combination with areversible mining ma- 

